It Doesn't Change Anything
by xIreth Calaelenx
Summary: When Ethan begins to feel as though Caleb is targeting him he feels humiliated by his brothers success. But is everything all that it seems? Maybe deep down Caleb does care about his brother... But if Ethan can't see it, what's the point?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: This is a little experiment of mine. I've never been very good at writing hospital scenes or anything like that so I suppose that writing a Casualty Fanfiction might help me in that department. I'd noticed that there wasn't a lot of Fanfiction about Ethan and Caleb so here's mine :) This is shortly after the conflict between Lily and Ash and so everything is like it was then and of course there's the brotherly rivalry between Ethan and Caleb. I have to warn you that I literally jump straight into the angst with this Fanfiction. Hope you like it. Please review! I need to know if you think it's okay before I continue :)**

**Pairings: Ethan/Lily/Caleb love triangle (it's kind of a background thing though. This is more focusing on the brotherly relationship between Ethan and Caleb. )**

**Warnings: Swearing and mild gore (really mild in this chapter).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Casualty. **

The bright, white glare of the hospital was slightly dimmed through Ethan's glasses, but he still felt that it was far too strong. A small ache had begun to form just behind his right eyebrow and he felt certain that a migraine was fast on its way. The day had been a long one and wasn't looking as though it was going to get any less stressful. As it was a Friday night Holby Street Hospital was packed with drunken individuals who looked increasingly worse for wear. A woman was sitting at the back of the waiting room, practically asleep with a long string of drool hanging from her lips. She had bright red lipstick that was partially smeared across her face and was wearing stilettos, one of which was missing its heel. Another man was sitting a few places away from her, looking upwards towards the ceiling with a faraway look in his eyes, humming along to an unnameable song, and tracing the marks on the ceiling with a pointed finger, as if he were a child and they were stars in the night sky.

Ethan was fairly sure he was supposed to be somewhere but he couldn't quite remember where. The amount of people on a Friday night that wasted time was ridiculous. He supposed that that was one of the drawbacks of having the NHS. People seemed to think that willingly getting drunk would then be an excuse to catch an ambulance and get a free lift to A and E. Sometimes the people Ethan saw there physically made him feel sick. How people could manage to go out, wind up a drooling mess, lose control of their own bowel movements, get dragged into an ambulance or end up practically crawling on hands and knees to the hospital, and still believe that it had been a good night was beyond him.

Occasionally someone would come in who genuinely needed help and the nurses and doctors would lose track of them behind the enormous line of time wasters that had gathered to get a free night sleeping in a hospital bed while they sleep off a hangover. Truthfully Friday and Saturday nights made Ethan feel like he'd signed up to work at a hotel instead of an emergency room.

Ethan tucked his hands in his pockets and began walking up to where he'd seen Lily standing earlier. The trainee nurse had an irritated expression on her face and she was currently speaking to a middle aged man in hospital pyjamas, who was stumbling drunkenly on his feet, trying to regain his balance. Lily was holding him by the shoulder to keep him upright while he slurred apologies at her. Ethan, realising that Lily needed help getting the man back into bed quickly appeared at her side.

"You shouldn't be out of bed Mr Harrison. C'mon, let's get you back," Ethan said, masking his annoyance with a well-faked smile. He reached out to grab Mr Harrison's other shoulder to steady the man but was taken aback by the look of infuriation of Lily's face. Lily glanced at him darkly and proceeded to pull the man towards the beds herself.

"I think you'll find I've got this sorted. Don't you think there's someone else's patient you could be helping?" Lily complained with a look of determination set in her brown eyes. She was facing in Ethan's direction but her gaze was set firmly on Ash who was stood only a few meters away from them. Ethan remembered that it had only been a about a week since the tribunal between her and Ash and it had been even less time since Ash had decided to appeal for her to be able to stay despite the friction between them. Lily had appeared desperate to prove herself since.

Ethan backed away, raising his hands in an appearance of surrender. "I was only trying to help," he reasoned.

Lily frowned at him once more, looking for an instant as if she wanted to argue further, before she turned away and dragged the drunken man towards his bed. Ethan waited for a couple of seconds to allow her to travel a distance away from him before he followed her to check that she didn't need any assistance. He couldn't help but notice the height and weight difference between the man and Lily. He was honestly surprised that she had managed to keep him upright for the distance that she had. Clearly she was a lot stronger than you would guess on first appearance.

Lily managed to pull the man halfway down the corridor before he tripped and stumbled. As Lily was holding onto his shoulder, she gasped and fell to her knees, barely managing to keep herself upright. Her face creased slightly in frustration before Caleb knelt beside her.

"Are you alright?" Caleb asked, barely suppressing a chuckle at the trainee's predicament. "Here…" Caleb said offering Lily his hand. Lily ignored the hand and instead focused on getting back up and brushing herself off. Her face was slightly red and Ethan could tell that she was embarrassed.

"As I told your brother moments before, I'm completely capable of helping this man get back to his bed unassisted! Now if you'll excuse me," Lily muttered, practically dragging at the man's arm now.

"Hey, calm down," Caleb said, placing his hand firmly on her shoulder. "I'm not saying you can't handle it alone. I'm just saying that it'll be quicker for everyone if I help too. At least that way we can get everyone sorted and finish our shifts on time, okay?" Caleb asked, looking straight into Lily's eyes with the faked caring look that usually got women to mistakenly fall into bed with him. Ethan grinned to himself, waiting for Lily to see through the act and to brush him off like she'd done his offer to help. However, what he didn't expect was for Lily to sigh and allow Caleb to take the man's other shoulder while they pulled him towards one of the empty beds.

"I just don't see why people get themselves in this position in the first place…" Lily muttered.

"Well you know what they say… Go hard or go home," Caleb joked, shaking his head as the man stumbled yet again.

"In this case he should have gone home," was Lily's curt reply, but she did allow herself a small smile at Caleb's comment.

From his position, hidden from their sight, Ethan groaned and ran his hand down his face in a motion of despair. His headache was getting increasingly worse and the fact that his brother had, yet again, succeeded where he hadn't sent a feeling of utter failure flooding through his veins. A feeling of hatred always filled him when he saw his brother and it wasn't getting any better. He supposed that it wasn't really justified. After all, Caleb had just been trying to help like he had, but the intense hatred Ethan felt towards him wasn't quenched by that at all.

"Hey don't let it bother you too much. For some reason the girls are always attracted to the bad ones," Louise muttered to him as she sauntered past him. Ethan shot her a disbelieving look. She'd heard the whole thing.

Ethan turned bright red and rushed through the crowded corridor towards the staff bathroom. Running his hand through his hair in frustration, Ethan walked towards the door and forced it open. The door slammed shut behind him and Ethan winced at the loud bang that vibrated around the toilet stalls. Relieved that there was no one there but him, Ethan turned to face the mirror, shaking with both rage and humiliation. He hadn't thought that people knew that he had feelings for Lily, or that he was terrified that his brother would get her before he could. He wished that Lily could see that he genuinely cared about her and that Caleb only wanted her because he felt that it was a challenge.

Quickly reaching into his pocket Ethan grabbed two paracetamol and washing them down with tap water, swallowed them, hoping to ease the ache in his head. The urge to punch something was strong but Ethan was able to force that feeling down, with effort, to the back of his mind. He felt he'd been doing so for a long time when it came to Caleb.

He could feel his final sensations of calm ebbing away.

One more thing was all he needed to lose it.

Ethan quickly splashed his face with water and then, realising he'd get into serious trouble with Zoe if he was gone for much longer on such a busy night; he stepped outside the bathroom… Only to be met with a very ugly and unwanted sight.

A young man, barely twenty five years old was standing in front of Ethan with an animalistic snarl on his face. He was holding his hand to a bloody wound on his shoulder, which appeared to be mainly superficial, and had a very clear split lip and black eye. The man could have looked attractive if he had just cleared himself up a little bit. Instead he looked like a drunken, beaten thug and he was seriously invading Ethan's personal space.

"Move it queer!" the man yelled, spraying spit in Ethan's direction. Clearly he felt that he had the privilege of using the staff bathroom even though the only reason he was there was because he'd previously gotten into a brawl that hadn't ended in his favour.

Ethan snapped.

"Piss head," Ethan muttered under his breath. He'd hoped that he'd said it low enough that the man hadn't heard him, but was dismayed when the man turned towards him a look of anger on his face. Lines creased his features as the insult played in his mind, probably amplified by a thousand while it swam was all of the alcohol that was clogging his brain and making him think differently.

"What was that four eyes?" the man shouted, enraged.

Stepping up to Ethan the man shoved him harshly in the chest until Ethan stumbled backwards into the opposite wall. His head hit the wall hard and stars burst behind Ethan's vision. Reaching forward to rip the glasses from the smaller man's face, the thug directed a punch to Ethan's right eye. While Ethan clutched his eye with a barely concealed wince the man flung the glasses to the ground and stepped on them with his boot, until the glass shattered under his heel. Grabbing Ethan's shirt and bunching it up his fist the man kneed Ethan in the stomach, and when Ethan attempted to curl in on himself the man flung him to the ground.

Colours blurred around Ethan as he fell and he cried out sharply as the pain in his stomach and head intensified. Landing on his hands and knees Ethan cried out as the glass from his shattered glasses cut into his palms and his arms. Ethan curled in on himself, too afraid to fight back. He anticipated another hit but was shocked to hear the man grunt and something fall beside him with a thud.

"Ethan!" he heard Rita call from somewhere down the corridor and suddenly he was yanked a safe distance away from the glass.

Ethan opened his eyes to see her looking at him worriedly.

"Can you get up?" she asked.

Ethan turned to his side, and when he was able to make sense of the meshed together colours swimming around him he could see that the man who had assaulted him was lay on the ground on his front, with a very pissed looking Caleb on his back holding him down. Even though Ethan couldn't make out his face without his glasses he could tell it was him just from the body shape. He knew his brother more that anyone. Always the bloody hero…

"Just give me one reason. One," Caleb threatened, his words dripping venom. The man who was restrained beneath him was behaving far more obediently when faced with a man that could floor him without much effort. Even in his drunken stupor he knew it would be a bad idea to fight back. Somewhere inside Ethan was touched by the fact that Caleb had jumped to his defence, but that feeling was buried deep beneath layers and layers of hatred.

"Caleb," Ethan managed to call out weakly, his head span as he tried to focus and his ribs throbbed.

Caleb turned to face him, his expression softening when he saw his brother looking at him, "You alright?"

"D-Didn't n-need your help C-Cal…" Ethan whimpered. His head felt as though it was covered in a thick fog. He noticed how helpless he looked, lying on the ground and trying desperately to still look tough. He was helpless… He'd never be as brave as Cal. Never.

"Ethan, can you hear me?" Rita's voice emerged from the darkened colours around him. "Can we have a stretcher here please?"

"Ethan!" Cal called out to him, sounding panicked. It was rare that Ethan ever heard that tone in his brother's voice.

As darkness consumed him and the pain faded Ethan was only aware of one thought.

_Caleb will never let me live this down. _

**Hope you enjoyed. Please review! **Though, I have to say, the drunken guy isn't the main issue in the Fanfiction. The main disaster will start in a later chapter and (even though it mainly concerns Ethan and Caleb) it will concern everyone ;)****


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter… I've been in and out of hospital because I had to have surgery on my jaw. I've felt ill for the past couple of days so I decided to get this chapter up while I had nothing else important to do :) I'm so happy with the positive response this story has received! Thank you everyone! Before this chapter I literally had no idea where this story was going but now I know exactly the direction so the updates should be more regular from now on. This chapter is still kind of setting the scene for the real story but I hope you enjoy it regardless! Also there will be an introduction to my OC's. These will be involved in the main story line. However, my two main characters remain to be Ethan and Caleb.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

The annoying buzzing noise was the first thing that Ethan was aware of as he returned to consciousness. The noise sounded like a cross between the insistent buzzing of a fly and the squealing of a boiling kettle. It took Ethan a few confused seconds to realise that the noise was actually the loud droning of hospital machinery.

He opened his eyes slowly, his eyelashes fluttering over his cheekbones like the wings of a startled butterfly. The hazel orbs widened in confusion as Ethan's vision began to swim into focus. Small flashes of colour blurred in and out of his vision but beyond that there was only a white blur. The thought to look for his glasses only crossed his mind for a second before he quickly dismissed it. His limbs felt like lead and his head was throbbing, although he couldn't remember why. In fact, he couldn't remember feeling this bad since he'd fallen off his bike when he was twelve and smacked his head on the pavement outside of his house.

Soon Ethan was able to make out other noises than just the hospital machinery. There was the loud beeping of a heart monitor, footsteps that sounded distant and His head swam and a feeling of light nausea was creeping up on him. His chest ached on the right side and if he could have raised his hand to touch the offending area he would have. There was soft and comforting warmth surrounding him but under his hand Ethan could feel scratchy material of bed sheets.

"Ethan! You're awake. How are you feeling?" a familiar voice asked, a firm but kind tone that Ethan appreciated. It lowered his feelings of apprehension and confusion slightly.

"Zoe?" Ethan croaked, his voice sounding rough and scratched like it had been dragged across sandpaper.

Suddenly a bright light shone in his left eye obscuring his thoughts. The light seemed to delve deeply into his eye and attack his head, making it throb and sting. Ethan tried to turn his head away from the bright light.

Zoe, who had been using a light to watch Ethan's response to the stimulus made a soft noise in sympathy.

"I'm afraid you've got a rather bad concussion there. The black eye is also a little more swollen than I would have hoped," Zoe muttered, her tone practiced but a small hint of anger showing through it.

Ethan was confused. Why was he in hospital? Why did his head hurt? And why the hell did he have a concussion?

"Zoe? What happened?" Ethan asked, natural confusion changing swiftly to panic.

He could barely see through the blurring that was obscuring his vision but the fact that he could still make out Zoe's basic outline was a great reassurance to him. Zoe mumbled something almost inaudibly to someone on the side of the room opposite to where Ethan was lying and there was a moment of silence that stretched between the two before Zoe turned back to face Ethan.

"Ethan you were involved in a fight in the ER earlier," Zoe's tone was grave. Ethan's heart rate quickened. He couldn't remember the fight clearly but knew that if anything had happened that was his fault his job was likely going to be in jeopardy. He couldn't stand that… Caleb would never let him live it down if he managed to lose his job after such a short time working there.

Zoe read his reaction quickly. "No. Nothing that happened was your fault. You're not in any trouble. We just need you to give a statement to the police when you can. But don't worry about that yet. Tell me… What can you remember?"

Ethan tried to think back and discovered he could vaguely remember someone shoving him backwards and him hitting his head on the wall but the details were still fuzzy.

"Not much…" Ethan answered honestly.

Zoe made a slightly concerned noise but turned back towards her notes, scribbling something down. "That's probably because of the concussion. Don't worry. The memory loss should be temporary."

Ethan tried to fight through the dryness in his throat. "Zoe… I can't see. Where are my glasses?"

"I'm afraid they were broken in the fight," Zoe replied.

"I have a spare pair in my locker," he explained raising himself up, only to fall back to the pillows again.

"Easy," Zoe cautioned him. "Just relax. Your brother's gone to find them."

"Couldn't find his way out of a paper bag…" Ethan mumbled. Zoe chuckled.

"Actually he proved himself quite helpful earlier. He was the one who pulled the man away from you actually. Excuse me… I'll be back in a few minutes."

As Zoe exited the room her words had the desired effect on Ethan's memory. Suddenly he could remember everything. He could remember the fight, the alcohol on the man's breath and seeing Cal restraining the man on the ground. Ethan's blood boiled and his face flushed red as the embarrassment hit him full force. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. Not only had he baited a very drunk man into attacking him, but when it happened he hadn't even been able to defend himself. No. His brother had ended up being the one to save him. What would Lily think of him now?

Ethan groaned thinking about how helpless he looked lying in the hospital bed. Everyone would know about it… It would be the number one topic of conversation. Everyone would be marvelling at how brave Caleb was and would be thinking about how foolish he was to even get himself in that situation in the first place. He wanted to feel grateful but instead he just felt angry. He was angry with Caleb for jumping in but mostly he was furious with himself for not being able to fight back.

"Hey," Caleb's voice echoed across the quiet room. Ethan was aware of the bustling from the A and E beyond his room but it was only for a second before his curtain was drawn closed with a swooping noise. Ethan could hear the footsteps drawing closer to his bed and after a moment Cal was standing directly beside him.

"Here I found these," Caleb said holding out Ethan's spare pair of glasses. Ethan snatched them hastily away from his hand and put them on. It took a couple of seconds but his vision settled until he could see clearly again. Cal flinched slightly at the harsh nature of Ethan's reaction but didn't comment. He figured it was probably just because Ethan was shaken up.

"You okay?" Caleb asked wincing as he properly looked at Ethan's black eye. "God the nerve of that guy…"

"What? No sarcastic comment?" Ethan said bitterly, completely disregarding the question.

Cal gave Ethan a confused look before it quickly changed to one of frustration.

"You must think I'm a complete arsehole, right?" Caleb mumbled, sitting down on Ethan's bed with a huff.

"What?" Ethan asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Well…You must. After all, you hate me more than anyone I know," Caleb chuckled but the noise was completely without humour. For a moment Caleb actually looked sad but Ethan refused to allow himself to feel any compassion for the other man. Instead Caleb's reaction sent fury flooding through his veins like poison.

"Because you haven't given me a reason to hate you? Well, it doesn't matter now anyway. I can't hate you because you saved me right? Should I say thank you, it that it?" Ethan spat viciously.

Caleb recoiled as if he didn't even recognise Ethan anymore. "Well it wouldn't hurt you to be grateful would it?"

"The only reason you saved me is because you wanted to make me look like a fool! You wanted to make me look like an idiot in front of everyone, including Lily! Well congratulations!" Ethan yelled, his words practically dripping venom.

"I helped you because I wanted to! You're my brother and I wanted to make sure you were okay!" Caleb yelled back.

"Are you sure about that Cal?" Ethan said, shooting Caleb a knowing look. "Or was this just another ego trip?"

"You're being completely irrational!" Caleb yelled, standing up and glaring at him.

"Am I?" Ethan challenged, sitting up and preparing to throw his blankets off of him, ignoring the way his head spun because of the action.

"Please!" Zoe yelled, opening the curtain and entering the room an enraged expression on her face. "I have the police outside waiting to take a statement and all you two can do is bicker. Now honestly I don't know what's going on between you two and I don't care! All I care about is that Mr Knight gets back to work and that you get some rest so that you can get back to work as soon as possible."

"Fine," Caleb huffed and stormed out of the room.

"Ethan, may I let the police in now to take your statement?" Zoe asked hesitantly. Ethan nodded, realising that there was a sharp pain in his ribs as he moved to reposition himself on the bed. The drunken man was pretty strong considering he was absolutely wasted…

"Yeah," Ethan said sombrely. "But I don't want to press charges."

***Line Break***

Jonathon Kanze wasn't sure that his brother's directions had been completely accurate. He'd been driving along the motorway for over an hour and they didn't seem to be getting any closer to Keltie's school. He braved a look at his younger brother who was sitting beside him, only to realise that he was simply staring at the map with an oddly vacant look in his eyes. Jonathon huffed and returned his attention back to the road.

Their sister Keltie was sitting in the back-seat of the car, oddly silent for the ordinarily hyperactive girl. She was playing with a piece of her jumper that was hanging off. She wrapped the small thread around her finger in spirals, amusing herself with the little things that would take her mind off the thick tension building between her two brothers. It was always obvious to her when either Jonathon or Ryan's mood turned sour. Jonathon had a nasty habit of shouting and saying bad words when he was upset and Ryan would become really quiet when he was mad and wouldn't look at her in the eye, instead he'd just look down to the floor.

Ryan Kanze had a lot on his mind but very little to say. He didn't much care about getting to his little sisters school play any more. It wasn't odd for him to have little interest in family matters but what was odd was that he could literally feel nothing but annoyance at the concept. His thoughts were jumbled and his head hurt. Feeling almost as if he was in a dream he grabbed his comb out of his bag and combed his overly-long fringe down over his left eye, camouflaging a black eye that was beginning to form. He was thankful that his brother had not noticed the bruise and he was also happy he hadn't noticed his split lip.

Ryan remembered the wretched look on Steven Talbot's face before he'd punched him at the entrance to the high school. The other boy had looked a mixture of angry and smug. He knew that he'd get away with whatever he wanted to do to Ryan. After the first punch Ryan had received a couple of sympathetic glances from other students that were passing by but no one was brave enough to counter the other boy. Ryan was the well-known wimp of the school. He never fought back, he never yelled back and yet trouble seemed to follow him everywhere. Steven had simply joined a very long chain of bullies that had hassled Ryan during his fifteen years of being alive. However, he was the first one who had truly made Ryan feel empty and alone.

"Ryan, where the hell are we?" Jonathon asked, the annoyance showing clearly in his tone. Ryan didn't reply and continued to stare at the map intently. He acted as if he hadn't even heard his older brother speak.

Jonathon's anger flared.

"Ryan I gave you one job! Where the hell are we?"

Ryan turned slowly to look at him.

"It's right at the next turn off," he said simply, his tone dull like he was bored.

"See! Was that so fucking hard?" Jonathon yelled, slamming his hands down on the wheel and then turning at the road that Ryan had indicated. Keltie, who was still sitting as quiet as a statue in the backseat reached up and placed her hands over her ears. She wasn't sure what the word that Jonathon had yelled meant but she'd been told by her dad that it was a very bad word and that she should ignore people that used language like that. Jonathon didn't notice her distress.

They turned onto an uneven road with fields on either side. The road was rocky and the car bounced up and down, jolting the three people in the car and making them feel slightly sick.

"If I burst a tire you're paying for it," Jonathon huffed, facing Ryan with an expression of dislike.

Ryan turned to glare at him.

"What the fuck is that?" Jonathon shouted, surprise mixing with the anger in his voice.

Ryan looked at him confused before he realised that his black eye had been completely exposed and his older brother could clearly see what had happened.

"It's not a big deal," Ryan mumbled, acting like he didn't care. He'd become a master of doing that lately.

"You see! That's why dad's fed up with you. You won't tell us when there's something wrong! We can't help if you don't let us in Ry," Jonathon sighed, his brow creased.

"I don't need your help. I don't need you or dad," Ryan complained bitterly.

"You need to learn how to defend yourself Ryan. I don't know who did that to you and I don't much care. At your age you should be able to fight the bullies away. I managed it at your age. Now you need to learn how to do the same!" Jonathon said, anger rising yet again. Secretly he was hurt that his brother hadn't trusted him enough to tell him that something was wrong. Of course, Jonathon had already had his suspicions. He'd seen how his brother's artwork had turned darker; he'd seen the atrocious report cards that were hidden under Ryan's bed and he'd seen the bruises on his brother's arms when he took off his shirt. He'd hoped that his little brother would eventually speak to him about it. He hadn't.

"I don't need help! I'm handling it!" Ryan shouted. Acting as if his brother's words weren't getting to him was getting harder by the minute. He hadn't inherited the amount of fury from his father that Jonathon had, but he could feel his blood beginning to boil.

Keltie kept her hands firmly over her ears.

"You're clearly freaking out! You need us and you know it!"

The landscape was getting darker and darker as the trees were thinning out. They were already late for Keltie's school play and Jonathon knew it. The thought only served to increase his anger even more. The promise he'd made to their dad was that he'd make sure that Keltie would be there in time. His dad would definitely yell at him when the three got back.

Ryan had had enough.

"Stop the car," he said simply.

"Fuck that," Jonathon said through tightly gritted teeth.

"No. I said. Stop the fucking car!" Ryan yelled, moving to shove on the car door handle.

"Are you mad?" Jonathon cried, bringing his attention away from the road for only a second to hit Ryan's hands back into place. He moment he turned away however, the road took a sharp turn to the right. Realising a second too late that there was a turn off Jonathon tried to bring the car back into control but cried out sharply in surprise as the car skidded across he mud soaked grass.

Keltie screamed out as the car lurched forward and buried her head in her hands. Jonathon felt his body jolt as the car dipped and skidded forward down the hill. He reached forward only to feel his head connect with the glass of the mirror. Remembering that he hadn't fastened his seatbelt too late he tried to reach backwards for his seat. Ryan reached over to grab his brother and managed to pull him backwards but his eyes widened in shock as he saw the blood that was dripping steadily from his brother's temple.

Jonathon's eyes were wide and hazed as if he was tired.

"I'm sorry…" Ryan murmured as a lake came closer into view. He turned to take a look at his little sister before he tried to reach over to grab the wheel. He didn't have time before the water came into view and darkness encased the car. As the impact hit Ryan full force he felt the darkness that had surrounded him stretch into nothingness.

**Thank you for reading :) Hope you enjoyed it! x**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: So sorry for the especially long wait this time but here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it :) Please review! x**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Casualty. **

A silence had settled around him, and for the first time in a while Ryan was calm. He was aware of the feeling of floating, as if his body was completely weightless. Lights danced across the blackness that had consumed him; maddening swirls of colour darting backwards and forwards like fireflies. They varied from shades of blue, grey, white and green, covering Ryan's sight entirely. He found that he couldn't focus on them for long before they moved out of his line of sight. If he tried to follow them for longer than the darkness spread his head hurt so badly that he couldn't keep on looking. He felt like he was concealed inside a bubble and that if he ventured too far out of it he'd feel all the pain that he was being protected from.

After a few peaceful moments Ryan became aware of his surroundings. He could feel a blunt pressure against his leg, holding him in place and he could hear something that sounded like a dull moan. Instead of floating he realised that the pressure seemed to be pulling him downwards. His legs felt damp and he could feel water pulsing upwards around his shoes. Opening his eyes quickly, Ryan began to panic. The water that had surrounded him the moment that the car had hit the canal was quickly encasing him, Jonathan and Keltie. Blood rushed to his ears and he turned to look towards his older brother. He could hear his heartbeat, loud and violent, thudding against his chest.

"Jonathan?" Ryan asked hesitantly, reaching out to shake his older brother's shoulder. Jonathan let out a small groan, before letting his head roll back onto his left shoulder. It was clear that he wasn't going to wake up any time soon. Judging by the cut across his temple Ryan reckoned the even if Jonathan did wake up, he wouldn't be much help to them in this crisis.

"Shit," Ryan muttered, attempting to shove his concern for his brothers well-being to the side, and instead focusing on the task at hand. All traces of anger and frustration had left his mind, replaced immediately with worry. The water was rising at an alarming rate and even though Ryan desperately wanted time to think about his strategy he knew that he didn't have any left. An invisible timer had formed over his head and it was counting down faster and faster as the car sunk lower and lower into the depths.

Acting quickly, Ryan spun his body around, shaking off any apprehension. He knew that he'd have very little time to escape but the water was already climbing to his waist. He could only imagine how high it would be on Keltie. Remembering his little sister, Ryan turned to grab the little girl, pulling her securely into his arms. At first his sister looked as if she might be conscious; shaking and trembling in his grasp. However, when he shook her to try and make her talk, she hung limp in his grasp like a rag doll. Ryan turned to look at his older sibling for a second, guilt and indecision clouding his judgement.

"I'll be back for you," Ryan promised, turning to face the window.

Using the heel of his foot Ryan kicked out at the window as hard as he could. He withdrew quickly as a sharp shooting sensation spread down his left leg. Clearly the pressure of the water was pressing against the window from the outside and was making the window far harder to break that it would have normally been. Silently thanking how prepared his brother was for any accident, Ryan reached behind his seat and pulled out a window-breaking hammer that Jonathan kept there for safety purposes. He'd always laughed that Jonathan was too careful... He'd have to apologise for that when they were all out.

Ryan hit the window with the window-breaking hammer as hard as he could, the sharp tip immediately forming a crack in the glass. Ryan grinned in satisfaction. However, the grin was quickly removed from his face when the crack grew and water began flooding the car at a far faster rate, momentarily blinding the teen. Never the less, he'd been prepared for this. He held the breath he'd taken and he forced himself out of the narrow space of the broken window. He held Keltie's body close to him, protecting her from the shards of the broken window by using his own body instead. He winced as his arm and leg were badly cut, but eventually they were free of the death-trap that the car had become.

Surprised at exactly how shallow the water of the canal was, Ryan easily managed to reach the surface, taking in a huge breath of air. He heard his sister do the same, but hers turned into a quiet cough as she tried to expel water from her lungs. Ryan kicked out and swam towards the bank, placing Keltie down on the ground safely. He was just about to dive back into the water to save his brother when he was grabbed from behind...

***line break***

"So you didn't press charges?" Charlie enquired calmly, walking towards Ethan's bedside.

The other man looked down to where his hands were entwined in his lap. He began scratching at the skin lightly, a nervous habit he'd picked up when he was a kid and felt unnerved by something. He knew that he should have pressed charges and he knew that he'd get quite a bit of backlash off the staff for not doing so, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not only was the story embarrassing, but he didn't blame the man entirely. If he hadn't provoked him the whole situation wouldn't have occurred. It was all his own foolish mistake. A mistake the Caleb would never have made...

Charlie sighed, "Well I can't say I approve of your decision. But I also won't reprimand you for it..."

"Thank you," Ethan replied gratefully.

"...However I can't guarantee that the rest of the team will be as understanding as I am."

Ethan groaned, imagining the interrogation he was going to receive where he finally left his bed. He imagined his biggest interrogation would come from Rita... She was the one who had helped him after all. Her and Caleb would never be able to understand his reasoning. They'd never understand the sheer embarrassment that he felt.

Charlie nodded and turned away from Ethan's bed, "Well, I best get back to work."

"Wait, Charlie," Ethan exclaimed, trying to catch the older man's attention. Charlie turned to face him. "Do you think there's any chance I will be able to get back to work again today? I don't feel bad at all."

"Are you joking?" Charlie asked, looking beyond shocked at the suggestion. "You look like you've been through five rounds with a bear. There's no way that anyone in their right mind would let you resume work... At least not today. That concussion needs to be kept an eye on too. You'll be staying here for the remainder of the day indefinitely."

"I'm wasting room though!" Ethan argued indignantly. "I don't need a bed and I'm using up one that could be used for someone else."

Charlie groaned to himself, half tired and half in awe of the way the staff appeared determined to give him yet another heart attack.

"Sometimes I think you have to give yourself credit Ethan. You need to relax and recuperate. Then you can return to work completely healthy."

Ethan hung his head, defeated. There was no way that he could argue with Charlie.

"Fine," he mumbled dejectedly.

"Oh, and if I were you I would have a word with that brother of yours... I'm not sure what was said between the two of you but he seemed set to punch someone earlier," Charlie said, before leaving Ethan alone.

Ethan lowered his head, trying to calm the thoughts that were swirling around in his head. He hadn't been entirely telling the truth. In all honesty he felt like he'd been hit by a train and then backed over for good measure. His vision was swimming and he wasn't entirely sure that he wasn't going to puke. Ethan was momentarily taken back by the strength that the drunken man must have possessed. He must have hit his head against the wall far harder than he thought he had initially.

Ethan looked to his side but couldn't see anything that he could empty his stomach into. He knew that he could call for help but what little pride and dignity he had left wouldn't allow him to. Ethan moved the blanket off of himself and shifted his tired body to the side, swinging his legs over one side of the bed. However, the moment that Ethan put his legs on the floor and attempted to put weight on them, the feeling of pins and needles began to travel up his legs. In an attempt to keep upright Ethan tried hold onto the bed, however pretty quickly this became impossible when his legs collapsed beneath him and he fell to his hands and knees.

Ethan leaned forward as his stomach took an almighty lurch and vomited violently. Luckily, he hadn't eaten during that day so all that he threw up was water and bile but it still felt utterly disgusting. He dry heaved until his throat felt like it was on fire. He hoped desperately that no one heard him fall and that he could clean it up himself and act like nothing ever happened. No such look...

In only a few seconds Lofty had rushed into the room, almost tripping over Ethan in the process.

"Oh my gosh... okay, okay," Lofty exclaimed, reaching down to grab Ethan's shoulders. "Can I have some help in here?"

"What happened?" Caleb asked, whipping the curtain back in a hurry.

The moment he noticed that Ethan was on the floor though he sprung into action.

"Quickly Lofty, put one of his arms around your shoulders," Cal instructed. Lofty quickly did what he was told and supported Ethan's arms while Cal lifted his legs until they could securely get him back onto the bed. Cal notices that Ethan had thrown up a second later but he had to be sure.

"Ethan, were you sick?" he asked, concern filling his voice.

Ethan nodded feeling too dizzy to even argue with his brother, or to deny throwing up.

"Was this the first time?" Caleb asked, to which Ethan nodded again. "All right, Lofty can you call in another member of staff? I'm not strictly allowed to treat him."

Lofty rushed out of the room and and returned shortly after with a very worn out looking Zoe.

"Doctor Knight?" she asked, sounding exhausted.

"Erm... By the looks of it Ethan suffered a minor fall, probably only from the bed to the floor and then was sick, but only the once," Caleb repeated.

"Has he been in for a CT scan yet?" Zoe asked.

"No, the head injury was ruled off as minor," Caleb confirmed.

Ethan winced as he tried to turn on his side. He wanted to tell Cal that he was fine and that he should stop worrying, but every time he moved it hurt too much for him not to almost cry out. He bit his tongue, unsure where the sudden pain was coming from.

"Evidently not. All right, I want him sent in for a CT scan asap. Tell them that the head scan is the priority but we'll also need an X-ray on his ribs to check there's no fracture. Can we get him something for the pain too?" Zoe instructed, taking control easily.

Cal quickly rushed off but not before giving Ethan a small smile despite the situation, "You'll be fine, leave it all to us."

Ethan attempted to nod, privately thankful for Caleb's support but before he could he began to dry heave again. Caleb quickly supported his back and provided him with a plastic bowl to throw up in, but this time there was nothing for Ethan to throw up. In a matter of seconds a sharp shooting pain rushed through Ethan's ribs and rendered him unconscious yet again.


End file.
